there are studies showing that if we incorporate better nutrition and exercise and things that you do not have to go to the doctors. you do not have to -- as often. i am not saying there is not going to be sickness. incorporating this in our education system, teaching kids about nutrition, i don't think we would see as much. host: we have to cut you off there. the house is in session. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] in order. the chair lays before the house a communication from the speaker. the clerk: the speaker's room, washington, d.c., march 5, 2014. i hereby appoint the honorable charles j. fleischmann to act as speaker pro tempore on this day. signed, john a. boehner, speaker of the house of representatives. the speaker pro tempore:

pursuant to the order of the house of january 7, 2014, the chair will now recognize members from lists submitted by the majority and minority leaders for morning hour ebate. the chair will alternate recognition between the parties with each party limited to one hour and each member other than the majority and minority leaders and the minority whip but in to five minutes, no event shall the debate continue beyond 11:50 a.m. the chair recognizes the gentleman from illinois, mr. shimkus, for five minutes. mr. shimkus: thank you, mr. speaker. i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. shimkus: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, last week i came down to the floor to ask the community world democracies to provide immediate financial help to the country of ukraine, and i'd like to report that the united states has committed $1 billion and the european union

has committed, as of news reports today, another $15 billion. this is critical in the need to help them get their economy back strong after the incidences of the last couple months. but it is unlikely that russia will pull back from the cry mia. rime minister putin -- crimea. prime minister putin said they can't control these self-defense forces. who are they kidding? russian soldiers with no unit identification does not qualify them as self-defense forces. if the world stands by and let's this happen it will be like chamberlain in the sudan land, russia continues to gobble up sovereign state. i want to applaud the ukrainian commander who was the only calm

when he e peninsula, marched his soldiers to the airbase to continue the job that they do in securing and fixing the facilities. it was a tough standoff, but the colonel was astonished by the change of events in that the -- in that he's had such a great working relationship with the russian military over the years, and obviously this relationship no longer resides in the relationship between ukraine and russia. on september 4-5 of this year the next nato summit will be held in south wales. i call on what they should have done in the last summit. nato must offer membership action plan to those

aspirational countries those that are moving toward democracy, freedom and rule of law. they need to grant membership action plans to ukraine, georgia and muldova. and now is also the time to continue to license l.n.g. facilities so we can export natural gas to our free and democratic countries around the world, to those who are signatures of the world trade organization and also to those who are members of nato. it's difficult times as you know, mr. speaker, but the coalition of free democratic countries must stand against totalitarianism and with that i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from oregon, mr. blumenauer, for five minutes. mr. blumenauer: thank you, mr. speaker. this is march madness, when we in congress greet thousands of our constituents, many who are

here to talk about transportation. and it's something that every one of our constituents cares about. yesterday i was able to greet hundreds of cyclists around the country, and then leaders of america's counties. already this morning, people from the preservation community and a large delegation from oregon. and next week i'll start all over again with the american public transit association. they are all desperate for a six-year fully funded transportation bill with stable, nongeneral fund money. they are standing on the edge of a cliff due to congress' refusal -- i almost said inability -- refusal to provide necessary funds if not to do it right, at least to do it adequately. i came to congress shortly after the clinton administration and congress last raised the gas tax. that was 21 years ago when gasoline was $1.08 and i wonder

if barack had even met michelle and there it remained for 21 years. due to inflation and fuel economy increases, the average cost per mile that the american motorist pays to the federal government for transportation has been cut in half. i went on the budget and the ways and means committee the last eight years in order to deal with this issue, but frankly i'm tired of waiting. i introduced a gas tax increase phased in over three years to fully fund a six-year re-authorization. was pleased to be joined by friends during my bill introduction by the u.s. chamber, the afl-cio, truckers and a.a.a., transit, local government, environmentalists, road builders. i find it hard to say people will say this will be a heavy lift because there's little support for it. when chairman camp offered $150 billion last week in his tax reform bill, what president

obama suggested $300 billion, where was their broad base of support? maybe that's why both proposals were called dead on arrival in the newspaper the next day. i had a chance to make my case for both short and long-term funding last week in an amazing conference on america's infrastructure challenges at the harvard business school. after my presentation, i was followed by the president of the afl-cio and the president of the u.s. chamber who said, you know, they don't agree on much but they both agree that it's time to raise the gas tax. when the best example of leadership was bill graves, the president of the american trucking association, who has been eloquent and forceful, including when he was governor of kansas and raised the gas tax, saying his industry wants their taxes raised. the a.a.a. issued a strong statement in support even though their members are not

wild about it because it's needed. we run out of money september 30 because we've drained the trust fund, and therefore the united states department of transportation is going to stop shipping out money this summer which means that we're going to stop having local governments -- they're going to start holding back on their contracts this spring. the truckers and a.a.a. have taken a strong leadership stand, not because it's popular, but because it's needed. i hope we in congress will stop stalling or dealing with short-term fixes. let's take a stand to raise the gas tax, have an adult conversation with the american public about how to pay for rebuilding and renewing our communities, put hundreds of thousands of people to work and improve the safety and morning commute for all americans. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back.

the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from florida, ms. ros-lehtinen, for five minutes. ms. ros-lehtinen: thank you very much. thank you, mr. speaker. last week people across the nation and in 51 other countries around the world came together to raise awareness about eating disorders. it was national eating disorders awareness week, a time not only to learn the facts but also to give people the knowledge and the resources to treat and prevent eating disorders. most people know that eating disorders are common in our country. they may even know about them through experience, whether through a friend, family member or perhaps they suffered or continue to struggle with one personally. what is actually not known as much is how prevalent they are. the reasons why they occur and what we can do to prevent these tragic illnesses. according to the eating disorder coalition, eating disorders impact at least 14 million americans and are so

common that one to two out of every 100 children in america has one. although eating disorders affects both men and women, the young and the old and all the races and economic classes, we know that they are seven times more likely to impact women. in fact, one in 200 american women suffer from anorexia and two to three in 100 women suffer from bulimia, the two most common eating disorders. distinguished by an obsession with thinness and fear of weight gain, anorexia usually results in extreme weight loss because of restricted eating habits. bulimia is similar in that those suffering from it also have an obsession with weight and body image. however, while anorexics restrict their food consumption, bulimics instead purge their feed after binge eating.

both anorexia and bulimia can cause heart problems, brain damage, osteoporosis and even death. anorexia has the highest mortality rate of any mental illness, and those suffering from it had 57 more times more likely to die of suicide relative to their peers. many people are also not aware that they can be genetically predisposed to an eating disorder. as reported by the eating disorder coalition, 50% to 80% of the factors determining who develops an eating disorder are based on a person's genes. however, just possessing one of those genes does not automatically result in an eating disorder. other factors, like peer pressure and false advertising, can be the ultimate contributors. more and more academic evidence, as well as a study by the american medical association, has linked eating disorders with unrealistic body images found in advertising.

by the time our children reach 17 years of age, they will have been exposed to over 250,000 television commercials depicting unrealistic body sizes. too often this exposure, combined with other factors, like a genetic predisposition, feeling of inadequacy, societal pressures and competition, depression or anxiety can lead to an eating disorder. the kinds of altered or photoshopped images found in our media today can cause unrealistic images of what the body is supposed to look like, causing emotional, mental and physical health issues and often resulting in an eating disorder. that is why i plan to offer legislation to look at how advertising can more closely resemble the true human form while making sure that artistic expression and the freedom of media outlets are not restricted. if enacted into law, this bill would have the federal trade

commission work with stakeholders, like the eating disorders coalition, and other experts across our nation to study the serious impact of advertising that promotes unrealistic body image expectations and then report back to congress on how to best stop the destructive impact of this practice. together congress can have a positive impact on the tragic epidemic of eating disorders, and i look forward to working with my colleagues to bring this important legislation to the floor soon. thank you, mr. speaker, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from north carolina, mr. butterfield, for five minutes. mr. butterfield: mr. speaker, i rise this morning to honor the ife and work of a remarkable community leader, ferdinand

vincent pete allison jr. who passed away at the age of 91. pete allison was a pillar in the during ham, north carolina, community. he was a personable and kind banking leader who took great pride in his work, but even greater pride in his family. he fought for justice, he fought for equality when and where he could. pete allison successfully used his banking career to enrich the lives of countless individuals through his involvement in many organizations and charities. the sympathies of the house of representatives are with pete's entire family during this difficult time. mr. speaker, i last visited mr. allison and his family less than 48 hours before his passing. he sat in the family's living room and participated in our very serious conversation. as i departed the home, he told me that he had been so sick,

and my response to him was that i knew that he had had some difficult days but that he must know that he was blessed, he was blessed to be surrounded by loving and supportive wife and family. and he responded that he was aware of that fact. . he was on schedule to have been inducted in a the north carolinian bankling hall of fame. only 24 other individuals, mr. speaker, have been awarded this great honor in our state. pete was a grat wad of hampton institute -- graduate of hampton institute, now known as hampton university. an institution that he loved and revered. following graduation, he earned a masters of business administration from new york university. highly educated, not sure which career path he would take, mr. allison upon graduation made a trip to durham to visit his family who lived in this hoist

torque community. his father worked at north carolina mutual life insurance company. mr. allison was awed on that visit, he was awed by durham and its thriving environment for african-american business. on that visit pete became acquainted with a gentleman named john stewart whom i remember so well. president of mutual savings and loan association there in durham, and he was offered a job as a teller. he was more than a teller, after 25 years he became chief executive officer in less than 25 years. that was remarkable. during his tenure at the savings and loan association, he continued to build on the groundbreaking work of other men ke john and c.c. and mr. moore, and james shepherd, and

john wheeler, and w.g. pierson, and many, many others in helping to grow what was known nationally as the black wall street. pete served at the helm of mutual savings and loan during the institution's most successful years. he spearheaded the transition from a mutual savings and loan association to a mutual savings bank, and also led to the acquisitions of american federal savings and loan and greensboro national bank. mr. allison was a pillar of the durham community for more than 60 long years. as one who led by example, his friends and former colleagues praised mr. allison for having been a strong and effective leader. most recently in 2010 mr. allison received the mechanics and farmers bank founders award, which recognized his commitment to promoting personal and community development. mr. allison is survived by his

ingram ife, dr. livonia allison, we always include that part, because that family has a rich history. many of our c.b.c. members know dr. allison so very well for her community advocacy. like her husband dr. allison received her undergraduate degree from hampton and her graduate in doctoral degrees from new york university. she was a long-time member and head of the influential durham committee on the affairs of black people which i believe is the oldest an most effective political committee in the united states. mr. allison was a faithful member of white rock missionary baptist church in durham. finally, mr. speaker, pete is also survived by two children, dr. f. vincent allison iii, his namesake, and michelle allison davis. and they have four grandchildren. mr. speaker, today i ask my colleagues to join me in

honoring the life and work of f.v. "pete" allison jr. thank you for the time this morning, mr. speaker. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the chair recognizes the gentleman from california, mr. cclintock, for five minutes. mr. mcclintock: mr. speaker, as we begin the annual budget process, we need to stop thinking in terms of democratic and republican policies and start thinking in terms of what policies have worked and what policies have not. the successes and failures of both parties can teach us much. we are now in the sixth year of policies that promise to restore prosperity to america by radically increasing government spending and government intervention in our economy. these six years have not been happy ones for our nation. when people say this is the worst economy since the depression, i remember a time

much more recently when we suffered double-digit unemployment, double-digit inflation, mile long lines around gas stations, and the prime interest rate at 20.5%. perhaps we don't remember these times as vividly because they didn't last very long. that was the end of the carter administration. he we elected ronald reagan who declared that government is not the solution to our problem. government is the problem. he reduced the tax and regulatory burdens that were crushing the economy and produced one of the most prosperous periods in our nation's history. in doing so, he was following the precedent of successful presidencies from both parties, including calvin coolidge in the 1920's, harry s. truman in the mid 1940's, and john f. kennedy in the early 1960's. lest we forget, in 1995, president bill clinton proclaimed the era of big government is over. he dramatically reduced federal spending as a percentage of

g.d.p. he signed what amounted to the biggest capital gains tax cut in american history. he reduced entitlement spending by reforming the open-ended welfare system. he produced four years of budget surpluses and the economy blossomed. gorge w. bush pursued the opposite policies with the opposite results. he he dramatically increased -- he dramatically increased federal spending as a percentage of g.d.p. he pushed through the biggest expansion in entitlements since the great society. he turned in massive budget deficits, and the economy tanked. the problem with barack obama is not that he changed bush's policies but rather that he did not change them. he took the worst of them and doubled down. he's added $6. trillion to the national debt. meaning that i had -- meaning that today's young people will have to pay back $56,000 plus

interest per household to their future taxes for nothing more than to pay for this administration's overspending. he seized 1/6 of the american economy that provides our health care and well on the way to wrecking it for millions of american families, costing them their health plans, their doctors, their savings, and their security. his increased annual taxes by -- he's increased taxes, averaging about $4,00 for every household in america. he made a lot of promises that turned out not to be true. he promised that massive government spending would produce prosperity. instead average personal incomes declined $2,00 during his presidency and food stamp dependency's at an all-time high. nearly one in six americans is now living in poverty, including 22% of all children. the work force has sha runge to a smaller proportion -- sha runge to a smaller proportion of the population.

he promised government takeover of our health care would reduce our health costs and increase coverage for americans. it's done exactly the opposite. millions more american families have lost their health plans and their doctors than have gained them. and the overwhelming majority has suffered ruinous increases in their health care costs. the result is a declining standard of living at home, a declining respect for america abroad, and a generation in danger of becoming the first in our history to be less well off than their parents. mr. speaker, our own experience should now tell us that these policies don't work. they didn't work under george w. bush, and they certainly haven't worked under barack obama. we know what does work. reducing the financial and regulatory burdens that government has placed on the as both ronald reagan and bill clinton proved. it's time we abandon these policies of debt and doubt and

despair. it's time we recognize this government has grown too big and too powerful at the expense of hardworking taxpayers. it is time we restore those uniquely american principles of individual liberty, actually limited government, and personal responsibility that have always been the foundation of our nation's freedom, its prosperity, and its happiness. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the chair recognizes the gentleman from illinois, mr. gutierrez, for five minutes. mr. speaker, i come to the floor to discuss a very serious illness afflicting members of the u.s. house of representatives. dana mill bank of the "washington post" diagnosed it as obama derangement syndrome. he designed the syndrome as an affliction in which the president's opponent are so determined to thwart him they'll

reverse long held view it is they believe it will weaken his stature. i would define it as a broader, more serious condition. the irrational fear that the 44th president of america is something he is not. from a unlick health standpoint the news is bad. those of us concerned with the long-term health of the body politic have identified an aggressive fact resistant strain of obama -- remember the republicans are currently sitting on their hands when it comes to immigration reform because they say they cannot trust the president of the united states to enforce immigration laws. well, i thought it would be a good time to offer a quiz to determine just how fact resistant the current epidemic of obama derangement syndrome s here we have the last three presidents of the united states -- bill clinton, george w. bush, and president obama. mr. speaker, let's test our knowledge how much or how lilling they have enforced the immigration laws of the united states during their term. question one, which president deported a population, slightly

larger than the population of the entire state of nebraska? with almost two million deported so far, barack obama has deported more people to live in the entire state of nebraska. no one has deported more people. a star, first place, goes to barack obama. question two, who expanded immigration enforcement by local enforcement 100 fold? one of these presidents expanded the secure communities program for deporting immigrants who are booked into local jails from 31 jurisdictions in this nation to over 3,000. who was that? yes, president barack obama, another dubious star. question number three, let's go to boots on the ground where the immigration issue seems to begin and end for many republicans. who spent more money on immigration enforcement than all other federal law enforcement combined? well, if you guessed barack obama, you would be right. yes.

the $18 billion he spends is $3.5 billion more every year than we spend on the f.b.i., a.t.f., d.e.a., secret service, all of them combined. in order to achieve what? unprecedented deportations. another star. question four, what crimes are the most prosecuted crimes in federal court? you think kidnapping? murder? counterfeiting? political corruption? no, under barack obama the number one crime prosecuted as a misdemeanor is being illegally in this country. and the number one crime prosecuted as a if any in federal court is what? illegal re-entry to the united states. nother star. finally, for question five, we get to detention, which of these presidents put more than 420,000 people in detention in just one single year of his presidency? yes, arrested and put them in

jail? president barack obama has detained more immigrants in jail, prisons, and detention facilities than any other president of the united states of america. that's five for five. and it goes to deporter in chief, barack obama. but because obama derangement syndrome is so fact resistant i'm not optimistic i have convinced anybody this morning. but tell that to the more than 5,000 american citizen children who they sit in foster care because their moms or dads have been deported. mr. speaker, let's be clear. the immigrant community is organized and will continue to pressure republicans and the president until this unpress didn'ted way of deportation ends. republicans can either be participants in how this country advances more sensible immigration policies, or they can sit on the sideline while the president does it with his phone and pen. secondly, if we pass immigration reform in this body today, most

of the new reforms won't take place for two years. obama won't even be president of the united states of america. in fact, if republicans continue to insist on making immigration reform a football in their game against the current president, they are all but guaranteeing that the president in two years will not be a member of your party. not a member of the republican party. and could be very well be the wife of one of these three. thank you so much. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from alabama, mr. brooks, for five minutes. of brooks: in september 2013, democrat senate majority leader harry reid sought to marginalize and denigrate americans who believe in america's foundational principles by calling them, anarchists and fanatics. their offense? they exercise their first amendment freedom of speech rights by speaking out against

an opposing obamacare and socialized medicine. in february, 2014, democrat senate majority leader harry reid sought to marginalize and denigrate charles coke and dave coke by calling them, quote, as un-american as anyone that i can imagine, end quote. their offense? they exercised their freedom of speech right by exposing how badly obamacare hurts millions of americans. . also, february, 14, 2014, harry reid said all those pesky americans who dared exercise their freedom of speech rights by complaining about obamacare are all telling lies. mr. reid said, quote, there's plenty of horror stories being told. all of them are untrue, but they're being told all over america, end quote. mr. reid's calling americans liars puts me in a quandary because north alabama citizens often complain to me about obamacare. who should i believe, senate

majority leader harry reid or north alabama citizens? this week, justin carter of c.n.c. fabrication, a 47-year family-owned business in lacy springs, alabama, told me, and i quote, c.n.c. fabrication was formed by two brothers, ray and c.m. carter, in 1967 and is today a small family-owned and family-operated business. through hard work and strong leadership, c.n.c. has grown to over 100,000 square feet with 51 skilled workers. even as the obamacare corporate mandate has been delayed, its imminent implementation makes them to force very real and very serious decisions about their future. c.n.c. has been notified an additional 15% increase is coming in october, 2014. these increases will cost c.n.c. almost $70,000 per year in increased health care

premiums alone and these increases do not even fully capture the impact of the corporate mandate. in order to fully comply with obamacare, c.n.c. must restructure its benefits package for all employees as well as reach workers' hourly pay rate. these increased costs could rise as high as $160,000 per year. failure to comply with obamacare will result in over $120,000 per year in fines for c.n.c. however, noncompliance could actually be the most prudent, most financialry sound method of survival for c.n.c., but at a cost to its employees in the form of benefit reductions, many of whom have been employed by c.n.c. for decades. this would force c.n.c. employees to the exchanges to buy plans with worse coverage, with higher deductibles than is currently provided to them by c.n.c. the sad reality is that, because of obamacare and

uncertain economic times, c.n.c. will likely have one feasible choice for the survival of the company and that is to ensure that its corporate size stays below the limit of 50 employees. while this will exempt c.n.c. fabrication from obamacare and help it survive, it will also sacrifice the jobs of valued employees and cap their potential of the company, ensuring this small business will not fwrow or create -- grow or create job. they have been fortunate to serve the community into its third generation and has taken pride in the work it performs. many hardworking individuals have given service to c.n.c. and in turn c.n.c. has done its very best to provide them with a living. however, obamacare mandates has the potential to derail c.n.c.'s future and greatly threaten its survival. end quote. so who is telling the truth about how badly obamacare is damaging america? justin carter, a north alabama citizen and job creator, or

democrat senator harry reid who is desperate to keep his job even to the point of denigrating american citizens who dare to exercise their freedom of speech rights? well, i know justin carter and the carter family, and i know harry reid. quite frankly, i believe justin carter of north alabama's telling the truth about obamacare hurting americans and, mr. speaker, it's not a close call. mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from ohio, ms. kaptur, for five minutes. ms. kaptur: i thank the chair. mr. speaker, i rise today in continued support of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the nation of ukraine and stand with the people of that country for their liberty and full human rights. the first objective of international efforts to calm ukraine must be the overriding goal of no more bloodshed.

the world community of nations must step up forcefully to affirm ukraine's new government, and not just for the sake of tomorrow. morally, nations that had supported soviet dictator joseph stalin or were bystanders to communism and nazism, that slaughtered millions and millions of people side those borders owe ukraine an historical debt. no place on earth suffered more. as demonstrators -- demonstrators have proven, corrupted leaders could not kill them for freedom and liberty. this is ukraine's moment and it is a break point in liberty's march that history will judge. where do we go from here? our path must be diplomatic, humanitarian and military. diplomatically, the

international community must affirm ukraine in her interim government. i commend president obama and secretary kerry for their leadership. yesterday, the osce announced that 18 participating countries will send 35 unarmed military observers to ukraine. let them reveal the truth. countries with large ukrainian dies a practice, like our country, along with poland, canada, argentina, portugal, the united kingdom and kazakhstan, should have constructive means to help. the international community must make sure that election monitors are trained for the upcoming elections in ukraine on may 25. then, economically, the world community should proceed to work through ukraine's financial challenges. however, any financial assistance to ukraine should be contingent on repayment, and ukraine's new government must clearly at the fine performance

standards and lay out a reasonable play to repay any foreign aid. it will require technical assistance, management expertise and loan personnel from governments throughout the world. in addition, the united states and other nations should impose targeted financial, economic, trade and travel sanctions on russian assets on a timetable that demonstrates our resolve. the united nations and global supporters of ukraine must respond if ukraine requests humanitarian relief to those places most in need. as long as russian aggression persists, its participation in the g-8 should be suspended, and finally militarily, the parts to the 1994 budapest accord should enforce that agreement. in addition, ukraine exists in an inferior military posture to its more powerful neighboring states. to remedy the shortcoming, nato should create a new category of provisional memberships whose military has fought alongside nato member forces on the war

on terrorism. ukraine has. as a true borderland region, ukraine is positioned to be truly a bridge between east, west, north and south in that most important region of central europe. the free world must walk with ukraine as she moves toward a more free and democratic future. there is no turning back. mr. speaker, i yield back my retaining time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from virginia, mr. wolf, for five minutes. mr. wolf: thank you, mr. speaker. much ink has been used regarding secretary john kerry's comments in characterizing vad mir putin's outrageous -- as a quote 19th century act into the 21st century, end of quote. as we look through the lens of history we should note how much rian christians has been

enduring. a religious advocate had headline, syrian jihadists are forcing christians to become someone else under 19th crntry rule. the persecutions deepened this week, a written ultimate mate imby islamic state of iraq and syria to christians in the northern province capital of rocca. quote, converting to islam or death, some christians held firm in their faith and committed to the islamic demands to live by demmis. she continued to explain the implications of this status. she said under this arrangement, an exchange for their lives and the ability to worship as christians, they must abide by purported seventh century rules of muammar. according to the ultimatum, these include bans on

renovating and rebuilding churches and monasteries, many of which need repair because they have been shelled and blown up over the past three years and banned against public display of crosses and christian symbols and the ringing of bells. she went on to say they are forbidden from reading scripture indoors loud enough for muslims outside to hear, and the practice of their faiths must be confined within the walls of their remaining churches, not exercised publicly as, for example, wedding or funerals, end of quote. many remarked that it was once of syria's liberal cities. its christian community numbered about 3,000 before the conflict. they have since been devastated by violence and migration. their exact number today is unknown. this month marks the anniversary of the uprising which eventually sparred into war and violence which terrorized syria for three years now. muslims and christians alike

have experienced horrific violence, but as she quotes, christians must now bear the additional suffering. their plight, while more stark, given the official nature of their subjew gation, parallels that of other ways of other religious minorities, specifically christians throughout the bauder middle east. the late u.s. outrage finally garnered a statement from the department of state's spokesman, but a statement provides little solace to people facing death, forced convergence or in the case of these christian leaders who refuse to abandon their faith and exacting toll to abide by the dictates of their conscience. such an outrage demands the response from policymakers and faith leaders alike. i joined with congresswoman anna eshoo and others in sending a letter to secretary kerry urging the department of state to cooperate with a syria

study group to be facilitated by the atlantic council. the study group will be charged with producing a report to help the administration and congress identify and implement ways for bringing this crisis to a close in a manner fully consistent with the interests and political transition objectives of the united states. surely the protection of ancient faith communities like syria's christian community is one such interest. meanwhile, i believe its critical for the faith community in the west, specifically the church in america, to find its voice on behalf of our marginalized and prosecuted brothers and sisters abroad, be they in syria, egypt or iraq. i meet regularly with representatives of these groups. they are desperate for help or at least -- at least the solidarity and cannot -- they cannot understand the seemingly lack of urgency by their

brotheren here in america and frankly nor can i. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from alabama, ms. sewell, for five minutes. ms. sewell: thank you, mr. speaker. today i rise to honor the dallas county high school hornets on winning the state of alabama title for class 4-a state basketball championship on saturday, march 1, 2014. on behalf of the seventh congressional district, i pay honor and tribute to the hornets for their exemplary athleticism and teamwork as well as the outstanding leadership of head coach willie moore and his coaching staff. dallas county high school's basketball championship victories capped off an impressive season of 28 wins and four losses with each victory during the season, the team remained humbled and grounded. in every game, these young men and the coaching staff pursued excellence and were driven by hard work, determination and teamwork.

throughout the season, coach willie moore encouraged the team by quoting whitney young jr. it's better to be prepared for an opportunity and not one than to have an opportunity and not be prepared. e hornets finished the 2013-2014 season undefeated in their region and lost only four games overall. to earn their place in the championship title game, dallas county beat other high school teams during the tournament, including madison county, dora, bibb county. on march 1, 2014, the dallas county hornets came to the 4-a state championship prepared for the opportunity they had earned. the championship game against j.l. johnson high school from huntsville, alabama, was a nail-biter from start to finish. the hornets never gave up, even when they were behind. at halftime the hornets were down by 11 points but in the

third quarter they made a comeback. a senior forced the game into overtime. e 6'9" standout and u.a.b. signee continued to show dominance making three crucial free throws with 5.4 seconds to play. the hornets won a 51-48 victory, taking the class 4-a high school basketball state championship. william lee scored 22 points, made 13 rebounds and three blocks. now, as the daughter of a high school basketball coach, i know that this decisive victory is the result of a tremendous effort on the part of all the players and the coaching staff at dallas county high school. this team proved that outstanding achievements are possible in rural black belt alabama. i couldn't be prouder of this

amazing accomplishment. the state high school basketball championship victory is truly a reflection of the hard work and steadfast determination of the entire team and coaching staff. members of the team include aden buford, scott cole, kendall motley, jared moore, henry baker, thomas baker, trayvon muse, jarvis muse, b.j. shore, william lee ladarvis, and lowell furlough. i would like it acknowledge the head coach and his assistant coaches, cliff, charles, kenny, justin, and hugh for their outstanding work. on behalf of the seventh congressional district of the state of alabama, and this nation, i ask my colleagues to join me in celebrating the accomplishments of the delal county high school basketball team for their victory in

alabama's class 4-a state basketball championship. we honor and pay tribute to this team, the coaches, and the school for this distinguished honor. and we appreciate their contributions to the school spirit and the community pride that we have in them. congratulations and go hornets. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from alabama, for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today in this house on ash wednesday to talk about a problem that should be heavy on the hearts of everyone in this body and around the nation. mr. byrne: that is the persecution of christians around the world. millions of christians will start their lenten period of fasting and penitence today and over the next several weeks will act out their faith leading up to holy week, when we remember the death, crucifix of jesus, and then the feast of easter, his resurrection.

sadly in too many parts of the world, christians will not be allowed to openly profess their faith and act out the things that for centuries christians have been able to do. this chart on my left, which is prepared by the pew research center, shows that around the world there is religious persecution. but it's particularly bad in asia and sadly in the middle east, the very part of the world where jesus came from. this next chart shows from the same source that the problem is getting worse not better. and sadly we are seeing that the perpetrators are now more frequently governments than private individuals in these countries. and the bottom part of this chart tells us the saddest news of all, the most likely people in the world to be persecuted

for their religious beliefs are christians. now, this is a little known fact to many people. for some reason the news media has not been willing to cover it as well as they should have been, but perhaps during this season of lent and preparation for easter it's a time when all of us can understand that this is a real problem, a humanitarian problem, a problem for the rights and freedoms of people all over the world. now, there is something we can do about it, but we need to understand the problem more specifically to do so. this last chart perhaps is the most troubling of all. in 1914 prins made up about 20% of the entire population of the middle east. y 2013 they made up only 4%.

in iraq since 2003, almost a million christians have fled that country. since the troubles began in syria in 2011, a half a million christians have fled. and in egypt since the troubles here in 2011, 100,000 coptic christians have rest that country. now -- have left that country. if you look at iraq and egypt, that should be a particular concern to us because we will send this year to each of those two countries in aid, over $1 billion. taxpayer money that's been brought to our government and that we send to those countries from the people of the united states of america. i believe that we should exercise a different foreign policy. not only should we state that we are going to stand up for the protection of religious minorities around the world that are persecuted, but in countries like iraq and like egypt where we send hundreds of millions of dollars in aid, we should demand

it. and we should demand it not just because we are a country in which the majority of the people are christian, because it is the right thing to do and we have historically done that as a nation. as we go towards holy week, and people around the world remember that jesus christ himself was persecuted to death, and that for centuries thereafter throughout the roman empire, throughout what we now today call the middle east, christians were persecuted. we need to make sure that the clock is not going to be rolled back as it clearly is today. and the united states of america, our president, our secretary of state, this body, the entire congress, and the american people should do what we have traditionally done and that is to stand up for the rights of people around the world. and in this particular context, that means standing up for christians, for being percent --

persecuted and killed merely because of their beliefs. thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. pursuant to clause 12-a of rule 1, the chair declares the house in reces

appeared this morning at the oversight committee. but when committee chairman darrell issa asked her about her role in the matter, she invoked her constitutional right not to commit herself. she invoked her constitutional privilege. we're going to show you what there was of the hearing. we' also follow that from -- we'll also follow that with comments from the chairman and the ranking member, mr. cummings. this is about 20 minutes.

>> the committee will come to order. we are here today to continue a hearing that began on may 22, 2013, called the i.r.s. targeting americans for their political beliefs. the purpose of the hearing is to gather facts about how and why the i.r.s. improperly scrutinized certain organizations that applied for tax-exempt status. today we have recalled ms. lois lerner, the former director of exempt organizations at the i.r.s. ms. lerner appeared for the may

22, 2013, hearing under a subpoena, and that subpoena remains in effect. before we resume our questioning, i am going to briefly state for the record a few developments that have occurred since the hearing began nine months ago. these are important for the record and for ms. lerner to know and understand. on may 22, 2013, after being sworn in at the start of the hearing, ms. lerner made a voluntary statement under oath discussing her position at the i.r.s. and professing her innocence. ms. lerner did not provide the committee with any advanced notification of her intention to make such a statement during her self-selected and entirely voluntary statement. ms. lerner spoke in detail about core issues under

consideration at the hearing when she stated, i have not done anything wrong. i have not broken any laws. i have not violated any i.r.s. rules or regulations and i have not provided false information to this or any other congressional committee. ms. lerner then stated her intention to invoke the fifth amendment, and then in response to a request by ranking member cummings, she confirmed orally the authenticity of a document that was entered into the record. she subsequently re-invoked her fifth amendment rights in response to several questions. she then refused to provide any substantive response to those questions. at that hearing a member of the committee, mr. gowdy, stated that ms. lerner had waived her right to invoke the fifth amendment because she had given

voluntary statement professing her innocence. i temporarily excused ms. lerner from the hearing and subsequently recessed the hearing to consider whether ms. lerner had in fact waived her fifth amendment rights. meanwhile, the committee -- the committee's investigation proceeded without ms. lerner's testimony. to date we have conducted 33 bipartisan transscribed interviews of witnesses from the i.r.s. we have heard witness' testimony during five committee and subcommittee hearings. because the i.r.s. has not fully cooperated with the committee's investigation, i have issued three subpoenas for documents. the i.r.s. continues to withhold some of ms. lerner's emails from the committee. documents and testimony show that ms. lerner is uniquely positioned to provide testimony that will help the committee better understand how and why

the i.r.s. targeted conservative groups. at a business meeting on june 28, 2013, the committee approved a resolution rejecting ms. lerner's claim of fifth amendment privilege based on 2013. ver at the may 22, after that vote, having made the determination that ms. lerner waived her fifth amendment rights, the committee recalled her to appear today to answer questions pursuant to rules. the committee voted and found that ms. lerner waved her fifth amendment rights -- waived her fifth amendment rights by making a statement on may 22, 2013. and additionally, by affirming documents after making -- making a statement of fifth amendment rights. if ms. lerner continues to refuse to answer questions from our members while she's under

subpoena, the committee may proceed to consider whether she should be held in contempt. since has been 9 1/2 months since we started the hearing, i'm going to ask that ms. lerner please rise and take a reaffirming oath pursuant to the committee rules. raise your right hand, please. do you solemnly swear that the testimony you are about to give will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth? let the record indicate that the witness did answer in the affirmative. , in october, 2010, you told a duke university group, and i quote, the supreme court dealt a huge blow overturning a 100-year-old precedent that basically corporations couldn't give

directly to political campaigns. and everyone is up in arms because they don't like it. the federal election commission can't do anything about it. they want the i.r.s. to fix the problem. wanted er, what exactly to fix the problem caused by citizens united, what exactly does that mean? . . would you please turn the mike on. >> my counsel has advised me that i have not waived my constitutional rights under the fifth amendment, and on his advice i will decline to answer any question on the subject matter of this hearing. >> so you're not going to tell us who wanted to fix the problem caused by citizens united? >> on the advice of my counsel i respectfully exercise my fifth amendment right and decline to answer that question.